Male Victims Left Out of Domestic Violence Discussions?
It is unfortunate that Professor Carolyn West of the University of Washington used language on dating violence that left male victims invisible, as usual, and misframed the problem as being primarily male-on-female, such as talking about holding other men accountable (see “Relationship Violence Strikes Campuses,” March 20).
Her own university found girls initiate domestic violence as often as men in this study announced at www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070625 111433.htm. So did the University of Florida, which found women are more likely than men to “stalk, attack and abuse” their partners. http://news.ufl.edu/2006/07/13/women-attackers. Men are less likely to report it, which makes crime data unreliable, but sociological research consistently shows women initiate domestic violence at least as often as men and that men suffer one-third of injuries.
—Marc E. Angelucci, President Los Angeles chapter, National Coalition of Free Men
Educating Society About The Hmong Community
“Perspectives: Knowledge, Authority and Hmong Invisibility,” March 14, 2008
Thank you for shedding light on this. As a Hmong American, it is bothersome when prevailing media and society, at times, can illustrate such distortion. This well-rounded article addresses pivotal concerns deserving more balance and thoughtfulness.
—Jay Xiong
I think that Leonard Kaplan is speaking from what he knows from the media and word of mouth. The bad news about the Hmong people will always come out, especially in the media. Not just Hmong people, but other races in general. If you watch the 6 or 10 p.m. news, they are always reporting about murder, violence and anything negative to get people’s attention. But to use this negativity and speak about the Hmong people and their culture is just plain ignorance. I think Kaplan needs to spend some time around the Hmong community and be educated on how hard we work and strive to make our society a better place.
